Fred Goodwin

Sir Fred Goodwin, the former Chief Executive of the Royal Bank of Scotland leaves Parliament on February 10, 2009 in London, England.

The Royal Bank of Scotland’s CEO since 2000, Goodwin received his knighthood in 2004 on Queen Elizabeth II’s birthday for “services to banking.” But he was at the bank’s helm during its calamitous collapse in 2008, which led to it receiving the biggest government bailout of any such institution during the financial crisis. Said one Conservative lawmaker: “All this song and dance about the knighthood is a sideshow. I’m much more concerned that he’s collecting £370,000 ($583,000) a year in pension.”